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Mutations in NYX, encoding the leucine-rich proteoglycan nyctalopin, cause X-linked complete congenital stationary night blindness

Nature Genetics volume 26, pages 319–323 (2000)Cite this article

An Erratum to this article was published on 01 January 2001

Abstract

During development, visual photoreceptors, bipolar cells and other neurons establish connections within the retina enabling the eye to process visual images over approximately 7 log units of illumination1. Within the retina, cells that respond to light increment and light decrement are separated into ON- and OFF-pathways. Hereditary diseases are known to disturb these retinal pathways, causing either progressive degeneration or stationary deficits2. Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) is a group of stable retinal disorders that are characterized by abnormal night vision. Genetic subtypes of CSNB have been defined and different disease actions have been postulated3,4,5. The molecular bases have been elucidated in several subtypes, providing a better understanding of the disease mechanisms and developmental retinal neurobiology2. Here we have studied 22 families with 'complete' X-linked CSNB (CSNB1; MIM 310500; ref. 4) in which affected males have night blindness, some photopic vision loss and a defect of the ON-pathway. We have found 14 different mutations, including 1 founder mutation in 7 families from the United States, in a novel candidate gene, NYX. NYX, which encodes a glycosylphosphatidyl (GPI)-anchored protein called nyctalopin, is a new and unique member of the small leucine-rich proteoglycan (SLRP) family6. The role of other SLRP proteins suggests that mutant nyctalopin disrupts developing retinal interconnections involving the ON-bipolar cells, leading to the visual losses seen in patients with complete CSNB.

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Figure 1: Phenotype of complete X-linked CSNB.
Figure 2: Genetic characterization and physical map of the minimal region for the CSNB1 locus, and the genomic organization of NYX.
Figure 3: The amino acid composition and leucine-rich repeats in nyctalopin, dendrogram of SLRP family members, and homology comparison of NYX and CHAD.
Figure 4: Expression of NYX.
Figure 5: Four examples of mutations in NYX observed in patients with X-linked inherited complete CSNB.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the patients and their families for participation; K. Boycott, J. Friedman, D. Rancourt, S. Robbins, P. Schnetkamp, W. Stell, M. Walter and R. Winkfein for discussions; and J. Whitehead, D. Martindale and L. Yong for technical assistance. This research was supported in part by operating grants to N.T.B.-H. from the RP Research Foundation (Foundation Fighting Blindness), the Medical Research Council of Canada, and the I.D. Bebensee Foundation, and from the Foundation Fighting Blindness to D.G.B., S.G.J. and R.G.W. In addition, R.G.W. was supported by an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, S.G.J. by NIH grant EY-05627 and D.G.B. by NIH grant EY05235. N.T.B.-H. was also supported by the Roy Allen Endowment, The Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation and the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alberta (W.G. Pearce and I.M. MacDonald).

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Author notes

  1. Margaret J. Naylor and Tracy A. Maybaum: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    N.Torben Bech-Hansen, Margaret J. Naylor, Tracy A. Maybaum & Rebecca L. Sparkes

  2. Department of Biology, and Centre for Environmental Research, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

    Ben Koop

  3. Retina Foundation of the Southwest, Dallas, Texas, USA

    David G. Birch

  4. The Netherlands Ophthalmic Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Arthur A.B. Bergen

  5. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    Clemens F.M. Prinsen

  6. Department of Ophthalmology, Children's Hospital, and McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Robert C. Polomeno

  7. Institut fur Humangenetik, Universitats-Klinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

    Andreas Gal

  8. Department of Ophthalmology, Emory Eye Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Arlene V. Drack

  9. Department of Ophthalmology, SUNY Downstate, Brooklyn Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York

    Maria A. Musarella

  10. Scheie Eye Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Samuel G. Jacobson

  11. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas, USA

    Rockefeller S.L. Young

  12. Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon, USA

    Richard G. Weleber

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Correspondence to N.Torben Bech-Hansen.

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Bech-Hansen, N., Naylor, M., Maybaum, T. et al. Mutations in NYX, encoding the leucine-rich proteoglycan nyctalopin, cause X-linked complete congenital stationary night blindness. Nat Genet 26, 319–323 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/81619

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